Eutelsat accuses Iran of jamming its satellites

PARIS (Reuters) -Eutelsat alleged on Thursday that Iran had jammed two of its satellites since Sept 26, adding that it had asked the relevant authorities to stop the interference immediately.

Paris-based Eutelsat also said in a statement that it had reminded the Iranian authorities that intentional jamming is "explicitly prohibited" by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio Regulations.

Reuters was not immediately able to obtain a response from Iran to the allegation made by Eutelsat.

"The interferences harmfully affect the transmission of several digital TV and radio channels broadcasting in Persian from outside of Iran, as well as other channels," it said.

"Eutelsat's technical experts have been working around the clock with affected customers to mitigate the impact of the interference on service as much as possible," it added.

French authorities earlier lashed out at Iran for "dictatorial practices" and taking two of its citizens hostage, amid weeks of unrest that Tehran has tied to foreign countries.

Anti-government protests have flared up over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in Iranian police custody last month.

(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain; Writing by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by GV De Clercq and Alexander Smith)